Don't Pinch Me

Like most of the good citizens of Patriots Nation, I'm in "pinch me" mode this fine Sunday morning. 

Only… Don't pinch me. 

Today I'm just living the dream, a dream where people are constantly arguing over whether this 2019 New England offense is better than the 2007 perfect-adjacent Pats of Moss and Welker. A dream where yet another "troubled but talented" player comes to Foxborough and winds up with a ring on his finger. 

In my dream, Josh McDaniels and Tom Brady access an almost endless set of combinations of Antonio Brown, Josh Gordon, Julian Edelman, Demaryius Thomas, Phillip Dorsett, Sony Michel (with and without James Develin), James White, Rex Burkhead and whatever tight end is healthy that week; deploying those assets to maximize weekly matchup advantages, destroying NFL defenses through the air and on the ground, scoring seemingly at will, while the New England defense plays with the lead, toying with opposing quarterbacks like a cruel cat with a blind mouse. 

In my dream, Brady and Brown bond over their love for old helmets and their loathing of Roger Goodell and the league's power brokers. Brown embraces the Patriots Way (even if it's for totally selfish reasons as he rehabilitates his image and sets himself up for a big payday from the Detroit Lions in 2020), drinks deeply of the Belichick Kool-Aid, and just does his job. Gordon stays healthy and feasts on CB2s and CB3s as opposing defenses scheme in vain to stop Brown and Edelman. 

In my dream, Sony Michel breaks out in his second season as Brady takes advantage of opposing defensive coordinators pulling a defensive lineman to put six or seven defensive backs on the field. James White is wide open on wheel routes. Rex Burkhead returns kickoffs just to get some touches.

In my dream, the Patriots defense is always playing with a two-score lead by the end of the first quarter, against offenses that have abandoned the running game, and all hope, for that matter.

In my dream, Edelman, Brown, Gordon, and White catch TD passes and the Patriots win their 7th Super Bowl championship in a rout, beating the Cowboys 56-0.

Don't pinch me.